Heckler & Koch (HK) is currently developing a new 5.56x45mm belt-fed LMG(Light Machine Gun)/SAW(Squad Automatic Weapon). It’s called the MG43. The HK MG43 represents HK’s desire to compete against the FN M249 SAW on the world market.

The HK MG43 LMG/SAW is, from all reports so far, not select-fire. It only has two settings, "Safe" and "Full-Auto". No "Semi-Auto" setting here. There may also be a 7.62x51mm GPMG(General Purpose Machine Gun) currently under development.

At 18.85 lbs, the new HK MG43/MG4 machine gun isn’t…

exactly a lightweight, but who knows–HK may manage to shave a couple of pounds off it. Technology-wise, there doesn’t really seam to be anything new here, but DefRev will look into it.

The 5.56x45mm LMG version of the MG43 has, according to HKPro.com, "been given the official name ‘MG4′ by the German Bundeswehr."

Click here to visit an informative page about the Heckler and Koch MG43 machine gun.

Clicking on this link will take you to an Asian forum website that has some great pics of the HK MG43 and its various parts, as well as some cool internal drawings and blueprint-type drawings. Definitely worth taking a look at.

About David Crane

David Crane started publishing online in 2001. Since that time, governments, military organizations, Special Operators (i.e. professional trigger pullers), agencies, and civilian tactical shooters the world over have come to depend on Defense Review as the authoritative source of news and information on "the latest and greatest" in the field of military defense and tactical technology and hardware, including tactical firearms, ammunition, equipment, gear, and training.